


New Mexican Sunset

by dreadwolves



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Cheesy, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Fluff, Fix-It, Fluff, Ignores Mass Effect 2: Arrival, Paragon Commander Shepard, Post-Mass Effect 2, Shepard went with Thane and Kolyat to New Mexico and it was Perfect, Stuff from Mass Effect 3: Citadel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 05:54:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10679073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreadwolves/pseuds/dreadwolves





	New Mexican Sunset

It seemed impossible that the three of them were here, together, surrounded on all sides by blinding gold. It could have been some miraculous instance of fate, but it was real. It had to be. 

Thane Krios leaned back on his hands, palms against the barren ground. He lifted his face to the hot sun, welcoming its piercing rays. His dark eyelids flicked closed over his obsidian eyes, and he soaked in the warm, dry heat as if he had lived in the dark for years. It was bliss, being in scorching weather like this again. He would have thought it unlikely that Kolyat would ever make this trip with him. But Shepard had given them a chance to reconcile. Shepard. She was next to him, leaning her back against a dusty boulder. Her arms were crossed and she worse a pleasant smile, submerged in the ruddy sunlight just as he was. 

He had frequently asked her if she needed more water, if she was tired. Drell were made to live in places like this: humans easily suffered exhaustion, sunburn and dehydration in such climates, more so when not properly prepared or adjusted. He knew she could take care of herself - but that did not stop his worrying. 

She had only scoffed at him playfully - together, they had braved environments harsher than the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico. And, she'd grown up here, she said. She was from the nearby state of Colorado, and she had told to him in great detail of her journeys as a child through snow-capped mountains and lush forests, into the punishing lands of mesas and cacti. Of course, this was before she was orphaned and forced into petty crime in the planet's sprawling metropolis, and before joining the Alliance. The memories were soft and fuzzy but they were there. If only she could remember with the clarity of a drell.

He had smiled at that. She loved seeing him smile - he was always so solemn, carrying himself with a cold confidence, a sense of despair. But when he was with her, he was at ease. Especially now, his son at one side, his siha at the other.

Thane could hardly keep in his affection, seeing her so at peace, instead of raging blood-red and glowing blue with biotics. He loved her both ways, of course. He loved her in all ways. He reached his hand over to rest atop hers, from where it resided between them on the cracked, sandy ground. By the slight touch alone, she turned her hand palm-up and her fingers curled around his, entwining as best they could with his index and middle finger conjoined.

She opened her eyes and looked at him, her skin glowing in the glare of the sunset. His heart fluttered the way it always did when he met her eyes. The orange light cast like magic through their hazel centers. 

"The sunset is the color of your eyes," He murmured. His voice was deep and low, vibrating through his throat like a smooth river over rapids. It always caught her off guard. The Commander gave him a shy smile.

"No, you think so?" She said, cocking a skeptic eyebrow.

"I do." He said, serious, but with a smile in the corner of his mouth.

She lifted her chin and observed him for a moment.

"You look like you belong here," She noted, her hard voice becoming gentle, her gaze scoping him and the way he sat. She didn't think she'd ever seen him so relaxed, his tight muscles released and his body opened to let the light in. "Both of you." She threw a glance around Thane to Kolyat. He was just as unwound, and he looked resoundingly calm for the first time since she'd met him.

"Rakhana was much like this," Thane mused. "At least from the stories they tell." He squinted out at the horizon. "Vast deserts that expanded for miles, a sun that painted the sky on fire when it set."

"That sounds incredible," Shepard pondered. She couldn't imagine it, knowing of your home-world but never having walked on it. It wasn't hard for her to picture Rakhana; he had told her many stories of his home-world and of Kahje alike, enough to piece together a mural in her mind of the two vastly different planets. Her hand squeezed his. 

It was quiet for a moment. "Thank you, Shepard, for joining us," Kolyat said softly, looking at the Commander over his father's shoulder. 

"Of course," She smiled. It made her so happy to see Thane with his son. She was so glad she'd had the opportunity to bring together their broken family, allow it to mend. Both of them deserved at least this, before... she swallowed heavily in her throat. She told herself she wouldn't think of it, not while they were both alive and content, while they had the opportunity to share quiet moments hand in hand.

Thane seemed to notice the flicker in the placidity of her expression. Despite how therapeutic it was to bathe in the sun, he folded his legs beneath him and straightened up, turning to the side to look at her. He hesitated before speaking. "Siha...there are things I must tell you," He said. His brow furrowed, his shoulders returning to their normally tense state.

Shepard felt a shift in her chest, knowing that a tide of relentless feeling was going to rise over her either way, so she may as well get on with it.

"I will be over here, meditating, if you need me," Kolyat said abruptly, and got to his feet. Thane's seriousness was fractured by a soft chuckle, a heartfelt glance to his son. Kolyat must've known about what he was going to say. Despite the tugging at the pit of her stomach, Shepard couldn't help a crooked smile in the young drell's direction. He hadn't been so polite when they'd first met. Kolyat resumed his cross-legged position a few yards away, almost out of earshot.

"You've got him meditating," Shepard noted, her expression sly. 

Thane looked - was that pride? He tilted his head to the side, exposing the red frills of his throat. "I can tell he is dedicated to changing. I have been working on setting a good example."

Shepard nodded in appreciation. He was a good parent, whether he thought so or not. He hadn't been initially, but somewhere along the line, he had learned. He cared, and that was where it began. "You are doing very well." She mumbled sincerely, although she was not one to know better. She didn't have kids of her own, nor did she really know any. But he was doing better than her parents had, and it would be good for him to hear encouragement. She brought her hand fondly to rest in the crook of his neck, where it met his broad shoulders. She noticed that the light silhouetted the side of his face, causing the emerald and light green scales of his skin to reflect like smooth metal.

His hand fondly held her wrist in place, to show how much he appreciated her touch. It was in subtle, frivolous hope that she may never let him go. She watched him intently and with the barest concern as, without warning, he slipped into a spell of solipsism, his memory taking control of his mind. His recollection spoke of its own accord, no matter how intimate. She watched his lips move as he spoke.

"Fist slams the table. She comes to me, fingers cool and soothing. 'Thane, be alive with me tonight.'" His eyes refocused and he paused, taking in a breath as he returned to himself. Shepard's face was flushed, and she was biting the inside of her lip, her forehead creased to keep herself from pulling him into her arms. She would let him speak first.

"Siha...as humans say it, I cannot forget you," Thane said, suddenly, his expression torn with emotion instead of tranquil, as if he had been holding it all within himself. Knowing him, he probably had. "With drell, it is a state called tu-fira. 'lost in another'. It can consume us."

He didn't need to explain further. 

"Thane..." Shepard whispered, overcome with sentiment. Her hand was at the side of his face now, her thumb tracing the curve of his cheek. She pulled herself to a kneeling position, so she could easily reach out to him. He did not resist. Gingerly, she pulled him in towards her and hugged him, her arms folding around his back, against the familiar worn leather of his armor. 

"I feel the same. I can't forget you either. I never will," She said, softly into his ear, as he rested his forehead against her collarbone and breathed her in as if this was the last time he would ever see her. She knew it wouldn't be - it couldn't be. Not yet. They remained in that firm, loving embrace for a many precious moments, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, her cradling him against her chest as if he were smaller than her. 

She thought maybe she felt the dampness of tears against her shoulder, through the soft cotton of her N7 hoodie. She wouldn't mention it. 

When they broke apart, the sun was sinking behind the flat distance of the desert, cloaking them in shadow. Far off in the direction of Mexico, it set the plateaus on fire, flourished the sky with molten gold. The navy of nighttime was on the fringe, chasing away the vibrant, electric colors. They would stay until it was gone. 

They each turned respectively to watch it, awestruck all over again at the way the colors changed. Out here, the sunset seemed to last longer, instead of in the ephemeral way it flashed and then disappeared from the city skyline. Thane's arm remained around Shepard's waist, familiar in its placement. Shepard's arm rested around his, too, folding naturally around its easy width. He rested his head on her sturdy, muscular shoulder, receding back to his state of comfort. 

Shepard could tell he had returned to relaxation by the steadiness of his breathing, the slowing of his heart rate which she felt where they were pressed together. She couldn't have him getting so worked up like that, when his existence was becoming so delicate. Even so, she couldn't help herself, either. They hadn't seen each other in a long time.

She was lucky to have been given this small opportunity. She had one chance for a short vacation before she would return to the Alliance base in Vancouver. After a connection had passed on Thane's first video message, she had jumped at the possibility to see him and Kolyat again. She would have liked to meet up with the entirety of her crew from the Normandy SR-1 and SR-2 alike, but after those missions had disbanded, everyone had gone their separate ways. And still, even in this time of her being grounded, of having no leads on the Reaper threat - she felt in her gut that something was coming soon. Somewhere in the galaxy, a storm was brewing. If she could see the man she loved once more before that time came, it would be a cold day in hell before she passed it up.

If Shepard did reassemble a crew, she feared that Thane would not be able to join her. His fatal illness was reaching advanced stages, and he was no longer in a proper state to face the impossible odds she was constantly met with, even if there was no one she wanted beside her more. He needed to stay with his feet planted firmly on a stable space station, caring for his son. 

She dreaded asking, for disrupting the rare harmony. But she wanted to check on him the way he did to her, even as he was the one in poor health. She exhaled. "How do your lungs feel?"

Thane lifted his head slightly to look at her once more. His knowing expression told her that he had been expecting the question at some point, that he had been preparing for it. "I will not lie. It causes me discomfort at times." He took in a stifled breath as if to exhibit it truthfully, how hard it was to simply take in air. There were other problems, too, that he was withholding for her sake. She wanted to know every detail of the risk, but she knew he wouldn't disclose that to her, for fear of making her feel concerned or guilty. His gaze softened. "But being here, the arid air is soothing. The oxygen does not pass to my blood more easily, but it feels, almost cruelly, as though I am healing."

She had noticed his breathing had been less ragged since they had arrived in the desert. "Like a placebo?" She asked thoughtfully. She did her best not to imagine the pain he was in.

"What is that?" He asked, the word failing to translate.

She remembered it was a human term, and thought of the best way to explain. "A procedure that has no real therapeutic affect, but deceives the receiver that it is active treatment. It's psychological."

"I suppose that is what I mean," he replied, and there was a small quirk in the corner of his mouth, just from her wordy, scientific response. 

She was grateful for what honesty he did show. The only direction his disease could escalate in was worse, and each time she was reminded of this, her heart became heavy. But as long as he felt better. As long as she could give him ease. That was the best she could do.

"I have a gift for you," Shepard remembered, and began rummaging through her ammo pouch, re-purposed as an inventory bag. She had weapons on her person elsewhere, of course, as she never went anywhere unarmed.

Thane looked at her, broken from his reverie, surprise in his features. "You do?" He frowned. He hadn't received many gifts in his lifetime. "You shouldn't have," He argued gently. He didn't want her spending credits on him.

"You haven't even seen what it is yet," Shepard smirked at his modesty. She pulled out a small black box and placed it in his palm. "Open it," She urged, as he looked at it with uncertainty.

A brow raised at her, Thane opened the box, and took in a nonplussed breath. He reached inside and pulled out a silver chain, small inscribed plates with black borders jingling as he lifted it. It was a set of identification tags.

"Siha.." Thane muttered humbly, but he was unable to resist smiling. Shepard was grinning, her face bright and excited. "Do you love it?" 

"I can't accept..." Thane said, as he held the plates in his palm in order to inspect their inscriptions. One was stamped with the words "SSV Normandy", the other with "Thane Krios, Drell Assassin". It was much like the Alliance ones Shepard wore even now, dangling around her neck. He flipped over one of the plates, only to find, in much finer print, the words: "from Commander Shepard, your Siha." 

"Shepard.." Thane said, his voice wistful. He looked deeply touched by the gesture.

"As your Commander, I order you to accept it," Shepard said, her voice light and teasing. She watched as he hesitated, and by his sharp gaze she thought maybe he was going to tackle her in delight. Maybe the thought had crossed his mind. Instead, he laughed softly, lifted the chain and draped it around his wide, beautifully-colored neck. 

She was aware of how despondent he had been when she recruited him. She had been given the sense that he enjoyed being part of something bigger than himself, that gave him purpose. The way he had been so quick to accept her offer of joining her crew, and how dedicated he was to the cause. She had won his loyalty fair and square, no matter the voice in her head that told her not to be so egocentric. It wasn't just about her, it was about the galaxy, the future of her own species and every other organic lifeform in the galaxy.

And she just so happened to be the galaxy's final hope. She didn't ask for this, she didn't ask to be yanked from death and thrown into the fire again. But it had happened anyway, and she wasn't going to fight the responsibility that was given to her, not when it was this weighty. Besides, if that had never happened, she never would have met Thane. She hoped the gift would remind him of what he meant to her, how honored she was to have him fight by her side: if the doubt ever struck him.

Thane's large, dark eyes were shining. "Thank you," He said quietly. "I have little to offer in return, but.." He reached down to his side, and presented a small plant. It was a cluster of little red flower buds, blooming into scarlet-tipped flares. He offered it to her. "I saw many flowers on our walk here. I liked this one the most. I do not know what it is called, but it is beautiful. It almost encompasses the shade of your hair."

Shepard hated when she reacted this way, but her cheeks were flushing warm and pink. Her heart swelled with gratitude, just to see him so elated. "It's as good a gift as any, Krios," Shepard responded softly,  as her fingers folded around the flower stems, around his. She recognized the bloom, too. "It's a desert flower. Called an Indian Paintbrush. It's...my favorite, too." She glanced through her eyelashes.

"I have chosen well, then." His voice was doing that thing, where it became gravelly, a degree deeper than before. Drell voices could reach frequencies that human voices could not, and it was times like these when that was most apparent.

"It seems you have," Shepard responded, her eyes half-lidded. He let go and she tucked the flowers behind her ear, leaning in close to him. The silver dog tags glinted from his chest, from that section of his armor where his bare skin was visible. They seemed to belong there.

"My circulation is not what it used to be," He warned her, expression faintly cunning. He was right to remind her, because if he hadn't, it was very possible she would jostle him too roughly for his current state.

"I'll be gentle," Shepard promised.

She leaned in and kissed him, draping her arms around his shoulders. He kissed her back fervently, surging against her the moment their lips met. She could taste his tongue in her mouth: he had a knack for surprising her with a passion he kept secret. She could already feel the hallucinatory kickback washing over her, which happened anytime they kissed, as a side-effect of the drell's poisonous biological defense coming in contact with human skin. It was like a bonus: it always left Shepard feeling a little fuzzy.

It was short-lived, but their moment of brief intimacy could only be so long. Besides, just one kiss was enough to remind them both of what they had, what they shared that night before going blind through the Omega-4 Relay. Shepard had been tripping intensely for many hours, and Thane had asked her occasionally to describe what she was hallucinating. It had been both humorous and magical. And more incredible than either of them could have expected.

"I love you," Thane murmured wistfully, tucking a loose strand of her auburn hair behind her ear. His hand cupped her jaw, admiring the freckles that adorned her nose. 

"I love you, too, Thane," Shepard said, and her gaze was fierce. She meant it. She smiled at him, leaning her forehead against his. If they had nothing else, they had this.

They stayed like that a few soft inhales, several heavy heartbeats. She pulled back eventually, and she regretted it instantly, but she needed to re-purpose her attention, lest the third member of their party be swept away in a dust devil or a tumbleweed. She looked over to where Kolyat had moved in order to give them privacy. It seemed he was a little farther away now than he had been originally. Shepard chuckled. "Do you think perhaps we should invite Kolyat back over?"

Thane exhaled, in a sort of satisfied contentedness. He looked grateful that she, too, cared for his son. "I think we should, yes. Before the sun is gone."

"Kolyat!" Shepard called, and waved her hand. Kolyat blinked and then rose to his feet, strolling back over to the boulder where the two resided. He had found a nice spot by a patch of golden barrel cacti, where he'd been meditating.

"We did not disturb you too much, did we?" Thane asked, and although he sounded serious, there was a playful lilt to his voice. It was new to Shepard. 

"Only a little," Kolyat joked, leering down at him with a small, snarky smile in the Commander's direction. 

"Sit," Shepard offered, and she scooted aside, offering a space between her and Thane. 

Kolyat considered for a moment, before complying and seating himself between his father and Commander Shepard.

She was a good woman. She was, after all, the one who had pulled him from his life of crime, and brought his father back to him. Things were still a little rough, but Kolyat did care for his father, and was slowly developing a new sense of respect for him. He also respected what his father and the Commander had: he would always, always miss his mother. But Shepard was different, and she made his father happy.

Kolyat cleared his throat. "So, I have been observing the local wildlife." 

"What have you found?" Thane replied, with interest.

"A few insects. Some miniature reptilian creatures," He noted, with slight skepticism.

Shepard chuckled. She hadn't thought of that. "Lizards?"

"There's one now." Kolyat pointed a few feet ahead of them, where a small lizard with yellow accents and a long tail scuttled rapidly from one cluster of brush to another. "They're fascinating."

"Must be strange to see a small, undeveloped version of yourself," Shepard mused. 

"It is," Thane said, squinting and watching the little creature dart around. He seemed like he didn't know what to make of it.

Shepard could only chuckle again at his perplexity.  

"Ah, look there," Thane observed, pointing at two smaller creatures closer to them, scrambling in the dust. Kolyat and Shepard bent forward to look. The ambient chirping had stopped. Two tiny insect bodies were locked together by claws, until one of them swallowed the other. It was a scorpion and a cricket.

"Interesting," Thane contemplated.

"I haven't even seen that before," Shepard said, her expression slightly disgusted. This was the same woman that had once smashed the living dead into the dirt on a daily basis. 

Kolyat leaned back again, settling closely between Shepard and Thane. "Earth is strange. But I like it." He said, looking out as the sun dipped behind the horizon, and the sky was swallowed in soft blues. The fading heat was slow and heavy, but not steady enough to cause the air to bend and shimmer. It was broken by soft winds that whistled along the stretching landscape, until they became the chilly night air. 

Thane rested his arm on the boulder, behind Kolyat's shoulders. Shepard mimicked his posture, and their hands touched behind him. Kolyat hesitated for a moment, but then he smiled and took both their other hands and held them affectionately.

It was a moment of peace, unfamiliar to all three of them, but wholeheartedly welcome. They had each other's company, the serenity of the desert. The future and the past were null in that moment, and all they could focus on was the now. It didn't take long before the stars began to appear, more visible than in any populated area on Earth. Shepard told them the constellations she knew of from studying star charts. 

After getting lost in the hours where they ended up spread out on the desolate ground, Shepard began to feel cold and hungry, and her water bottle was empty. She didn't complain. She'd been through much worse. She would have gladly laid in the desert, counting the stars with her lover and his son all night, if only the circumstances would allow it. 

Thane propped himself up, meeting Shepard's eyes. "We should return to the settlement, Siha. At least for the evening. You are becoming weary," He noted, from her betraying stomach growls and shifting body language. "I admit, I need to rest, as well." 

Shepard sighed. "You're right. We could also have some Mexican food, if you're up for it."

"I am," Kolyat said, with subtle excitement. 

"We could, yes," Thane agreed. He wasn't really sure what Mexican food was but it had smelled pretty good when they passed a restaurant earlier in the day. 

Shepard and Kolyat got to their feet, but Thane seemed to be having more trouble standing. He hadn't had any nutrition in several hours, or any physical stimulation to support his waning bloodstream. Worry hit Shepard like a Reaper beam. 

"Are you alright?" She asked, almost frantically.

"I will be fine," He assured her. He used the boulder to prop himself up, and she reached her arms out for him to hold until he caught his balance. He had not needed this much assistance while on the Normandy. In such a short time, his state had greatly deteriorated.

It was dark, and they were far enough from town that the only light source was the half-moon's silver glow. It cast over Thane, and for a moment he no longer looked like the swift, lethal assassin that Shepard had met six months ago, whose presence emanated danger and mystery. She still thought him extremely capable, but there were anomalies like this, where his skilled body would fail him.

He forced himself up, grasping Shepard's hands. But he'd stood too fast. His head rushed and his hands slipped from Shepard's, his body going limp as he lost consciousness. He was going to collapse and strike his head on the rock: but Shepard as quick, and she threw her arms out to catch him. When he flopped into her grasp as though lifeless, her ears began ringing. 

"Oh, Gods!" Kolyat exclaimed breathlessly, rushing to Shepard's side. He helped keep his father in her arms, until Shepard urged his hands away so she could lift him properly. She struggled to handle the drell's body weight at first, as he was a few inches taller than her, but like clockwork she fell into procedure from her military training. No time for an emotional reaction, to go into shock. She hoped she would never have to do this for Thane: but she had done it many times before for other injured squadmates, fellow soldiers, and vice-versa.  

She held Thane upright, his head lolling to the side. She lifted his arm over her head and bent him at the waist and knees, taking a deep breath and grunting slightly as she pulled his arm, bringing his weight over her shoulders. She grasped his knee for support, and began carrying him towards the small spacecraft they had rented for transport to Earth from the Citadel. Kolyat followed, frightened. He couldn't stand to see his father like this, having to be towed like from the battlefield.

Shepard's demeanor was no longer casual. She had shifted back to being the Commander, to handling things with composure and resourcefulness. "Can you fly?" She asked Kolyat, her voice rough.

"No," He said, feeling helpless to the situation. Thane had been the one to pilot them out there.

"It's okay. My pilot taught me the ropes," She lied. She would improvise. She had to keep Kolyat calm. "Where can we take him?"

Kolyat had already thought of this in case his father experienced another Kepral's Syndrome attack. He was always worried that it would happen again. "Huerta Memorial Hospital, on the Citadel. Can we get there fast enough?" He asked anxiously. He had already proposed the idea to Thane only to be firmly denied.

"Yes. He'll be alright, he just fainted. But we have to get him medical help," She said. She knew he wouldn't like it, and he'd be unhappy waking up in a hospital. But he needed to be cared for by doctors. She was frustrated with him, then, for not already checking himself in when his condition was this bad. "Dammit, Thane," She muttered under her breath. 

She hauled him to the ship, laying him down in the backseat. She slid into the pilot's chair, and Kolyat climbed into the passenger's seat and strapped himself in as best he could with his hands shaking. Shepard tried to think back to that time when Joker had half-assed a breakdown of the main controls of the Normandy. But this wasn't the Normandy. None of the controls looked familiar at all.

Maybe it was like driving a skycar. Or driving the Mako. She was good at that (or so she liked to think, but Garrus would have something to say about that). She powered up the engines and found what looked like a gear-shift, switching the gears rapidly until she found the equivalent of "drive". The ship shuddered as it lifted off the ground, and Kolyat was staring straight ahead in terror, probably thinking this was how he would die.

"I'm gonna get your dad to safety," Shepard said, looking at Kolyat with a determined certainty. "Count on it."

Kolyat nodded nervously, and Shepard shakily took the ship into acceleration and climbed the night sky in altitude. It became easier the longer she did it, and she realized it was almost exactly like driving a skycar, except bigger and heavier. Her mind racing almost as fast as the ship, she steered up through the atmosphere and hit the FTL, blasting them through deep space, towards the Citadel.

-

When Thane opened his eyes again, the lights around him were too bright. The air felt sterile, and it smelled of rubbing alcohol. He was in a hospital, unmistakably. He woke with a start, moving slowly at first to adjust to the new surroundings, and then quickly to push aside the stiff bedsheets and throw his legs over the side of the bed. The quick movement caused his head to fill with stars but he attempted to stand anyway. Upon his first inhale, his chest tightened and he coughed. He felt like he was slowly suffocating.

"Thane, relax," A soft voice carried to his ears. His gaze focused on a red-haired woman in front of him, hazel eyes fixed on him with concern, dark circles framing them. Shepard.

"Siha," Thane breathed. "What happened?" He demanded, distraught. The first time he'd had an attack, he hadn't had to go to the hospital. 

"You fainted as we were about to leave," Shepard said calmly, her hands reaching to touch his forearms, as if to steady him.

"Shepard kept you from a concussion," Kolyat said, as he approached.

He had fallen asleep in the waiting chair, and Shepard had left him to rest. The commotion must have woken him. Both of them had been sitting in the patient wing since they'd arrived, waiting for Thane to wake. He needed a lot of rest and a few treatments of medicine, most importantly a new antibiotic that the infection in his lungs hadn't become resistant to. Shepard had sat forward with her elbows on her knees, twirling the Indian Paintbrush between her fingers as the hours passed. Kolyat had asked her at one point about the tags around Thane's neck; she'd told him it was something he'd earned from serving with her. Then he'd been silent again, arms folded tight around his ribs.

Now, Kolyat stood next to him, alert, searching him for signs of harm. "Father, you scared me." His voice was quiet.

Thane looked at him and there was such a sadness in his face that Shepard's heart shuddered in her chest. 

"I am... I'm sorry, Kolyat," Thane murmured. His expression was one of shame, like it was his fault. Like he'd failed his son.

Kolyat stood for a moment, breathed shakily through his nose, and then threw his arms out and hugged his father, burying his face in his shoulder like he was a young boy. Thane let out a soft puff at the sudden pressure, and Kolyat pulled himself back. "Sorry," He apologized in a whisper. "How do you feel?" He asked, resolving to sitting down on the bed beside him.

"Fine," Thane said, his voice scratchy with disuse. He was sitting neatly, hands folded together, as he usually did. He didn't slouch or move sluggishly like Shepard had expected. "No worse than usual." Many things were worse than usual, but he was convinced it was nothing he couldn't handle. So far, anyway.

Shepard remained kneeling in front of him, her eyes glistening, her jaw tight. Thane took her hand. "Thank you, Siha. I'd be in much worse shape if you hadn't caught me," He said, still soft. She squeezed his hand and tightened her shoulders, telling herself to be brave. She cracked a small, hesitant smile. She didn't want him to be too troubled, even now. "No problem, Krios."

"I'm sure you helped a lot, too, Kolyat," Thane said, returning the smile, and glancing at the young drell. Kolyat looked relieved, and he smiled, too. "I did my best. I checked you in here under a false name, for safety," He said, with a nod.

"That's my son," Thane joked gently. "I am sorry we didn't get to try any Mexican food." He frowned.

"It's okay," Kolyat said, reassuringly. "It was still a lovely trip. And I'm glad I got to go with you. Both of you," He looked pointedly in Shepard's direction.

"Me too, Kolyat." Shepard grinned at him. "Me too." 

She turned to Thane. "The doc will wanna talk to you. She said something about only having to check in once a day, instead of staying here all the time," She explained. She understood his hesitance, as much as she wanted him to do all in his power to preserve his health. Ever since Project Lazarus, and even long before then, she hated hospitals.

"I was hoping so," Thane said, breathing a sigh of alleviation. He shoulders squared, and he looked upset again. "Siha... don't you have to return to Vancouver soon?" He hated asking. But he didn't want her skirting her duties for him. Not that she would, but he had to make sure.

"I've got a few more days before Anderson will start to worry," She said, as she stood to full height again, her hands on her hips. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I saw a Mexican restaurant somewhere on the Presidium," She smirked.

Thane smiled. "It's a date." 

Shepard was so happy for a moment that she leaned forward and pecked his lips. He would be alright, for now. That was enough. A moment later, however, she glanced over at Kolyat, who looked perturbed. "Oh, sorry," She said. He wasn't a small child, but she did keep in mind that it might make him uncomfortable to publicly display her affection for his father, especially when he had only recently come to know him again.

She wasn't sure exactly what to do, so she leaned forward and kissed the top of his scaly head, too. Instantly, Kolyat let out a startled, airy laugh. 

Thane held both of their hands. His two reasons to live were both beside him. Even with the tides of fate and his inevitable passing, he would have now with both of them. And that was more than he ever could have asked for.


End file.
